Feed for cigarette-machines.



F. E. LUDINGTON.

FEED FOR CIGARETTE MACHINES.

APPLICATION Fl LED JAN.26. I914.

Patented Dec. 28,1915.

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l ll llllll WWW WM F. E. LUDINGTON. FEED FOR CIGARETTE MACHINES. APPLICATION FILED JAN-26. 1914.

Patented Dec. 28, 1915.

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FRANK E. LUDINGTON, 0F WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, ASSIG-NOR TO THE LUDINGTON CIGARETTE MACHINE COMPANY, IN (1., OF WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORA- TION OF CONNECTICUT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 31915.

Application filed January 26, 1914. Serial No. 814,375.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANK E. LUDINGTON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Feeds for Cigarette-Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a new and improved feed for cigarette machines, referring more particularly to mechanism that will automaticallyconvey and deliver tobacco from a hopper, into which it has been thrown in bulk indiscriminately, in the desired measured quantity and uniformly distributed, and having for its object, among other things, to accomplish this result by the cooperation of few parts, so designed and arranged as to be economically constructed and readily assembled.

To these, and other ends, my invention consists in the feed for cigarette machines, having certain details of construction and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the drawings, in which like numerals of reference designate like parts in the several figures; Figure 1 is a fragmentarv front view of my improved mechanism; Fig. 2 is a transverse sectional view thereof upon line 'AB; and Fig. 3 is a detail view of the clearance comb.

The mechanism utilized in this invention consists essentially of a receptacle having one or more oscillating or vibratory walls, and a plurality of rolls arranged in series, one above the other, all or part of the rolls having a shield or guard upon one side that forms one side of a channel, through which the tobacco travels, and upon the opposite side thereof are one or more inclined plates that receive the tobacco from the rolls and deliver it onto a carrier belt. which conveys it into a chute discharging the tobacco onto the paper passing through a guide block.

Considering now more particularly the details of the mechanism, which I show as a convenientform for carrying out my invention, the numeral 1 designates the frame of a cigarette machine, which may be of any common type, having mounted therein a shaft 2, to which is fixed a gear 3 that meshes into a pinion 4 upon a shaft 5. Fixed to the said frame, in any convenient manner, is my improved mechanism, preferably designed and arranged as a unitary structure that may be attached to, or detached from, the frame as a unit. This mechanism comprises a receptacle having side'plates 6, secured together bv rods 7, or in any other well known manner, a fixed end plate 8, and an end plate 9, which may be oscillated or vibrated. As shown, this plate is pivoted to a rod 10 between the sid plates 6 and operated through a. link 11 that is connected at one end to a crank 12 upon the shaft 13, and at the other end to a rod 14, mounted in the blocks 16. Also mounted between the side plates 6 upon the rod 15 is a plate 47 similar in structure and design to the said plate 9 and actuated from the shaft 48 through the :crank 49, links 50, rod 51 and blocks 52.

Either one or both of these plates may be operated to facilitate the flow of tobacco in proper form against the feed roll.

Rotatable between the side plates 6 is the feed roll 1.7, that is driven from the shaft 5 through a belt or sprocket chain 19, and upon the periphery of which is a plurality of pins or teeth 18. Above the feed roll 17 is rotatably mounted the lower roll 20, having the pins 21 in its periphery, the outer ends of which just pass the periphery of the roll 17 near the bottom of the teeth thereon. The lateral spacing of the teeth 18 and pins 20 is such-that they do not contact, but pass between each other.

Fixed to the shaft 48 is the upper conveyer roll 22, having pins 23 projecting from the periphery thereof, the outer .ends of which just pass the periphery of the roll 20, but spaced so as not to contact with the pins 21.

Secured in any preferred manner, is the shield or guard plate 24, which is formed so as to partly encircle the rolls 17, 20 and 22, and is in such relation to said rolls that the pins 18, 21 and 23 just clear it. This shield or guard plate is provided with the inwardly projecting lips 25 and 26 between the rolls, which terminate in a knife edge at a point where the teeth and pins just clear it. Some grades of tobacco do not require the action of the knife edge upon the said lips, in which case a lip with a rounded or squared edge is substituted.

Power is transmitted from the roll 17 to rotate the roll 20 by the belt or sprocket chain 27, and the roll 22 through a similar belt or sprocket chain .28. The peripheries of these several rolls may be rotated at differential speeds, the lower conveyer roll 20 rotating at a less speed than the upper conveyer roll 22, and at a greater speed than the feed roll 17.

Tobacco in the rough, which is usually in bunches or balls, is thrown indiscriminately into the receptacle between the side plates 6 and the plates 9 and 47. The rocking movement of either one or both of the plates 9 or 47 evens up the fibers of the tangled mass of tobacco and .assists its gravitation toward the bottom plate 29 where it is presented to the feed rolls 17 in a more uniform mass. The teeth 18 on said roll disengage and lift portions of the tobacco upwardly and against the lower edge 30 of the shield or guard plate 24, where the tobacco projecting beyond the teeth 18 is stripped from the roll. The remainder of the tobacco travels in an upward direction against gravity, being lifted by the teeth 18, and is prevented from falling off the feed roll by the shield or guard plate 24. This tobacco, in more or less matted form, is taken from the feed roll 17 by the pins 21 in the lower conveyer roll and against the lip 25, where it is separated into more minute portions and cut into desirable and usable lengths for cigarettes. After passing this lip, it is conveyed upwardly again, against gravity, by the pins 21 within the inside of the shield or guard plate 24, until the pins 23 on the upper conveyer roll 22 strip the fibers therefrom against the lip 26 and discharge it in separated form and usable lengths, onto the fixed inclined plate 31. Scavenger wheels 32 and 33, rotating at a speed much greater than the roll 22, clear said roll of any tobacco which fails to fall onto said inclined plate 31. Fixed combs 53 clear said scavenger wheels if perchance any excess tobacco should accumulate thereon. It will be observed that the weight of the tobacco in the receptacle is utilized, in conjunction with the plates 9 and 47, to hold the tobacco against the feed roll 17, and that from this point until the tobacco leaves the upper conveyer roll 22, its movement is in an upward direction against gravity and in a confined stream between the peripheries of the rolls and the inside of the shield or guard plate 24. While traveling between these two points, the stream of tobacco is passed from one roll to another and over one or more cutting lips, which separates and cuts the tobacco fibers into usable lengths, as well as disentangling them from each other, this disentanglement being a refinement of that occasioned by the edge 30 of said shield or guard plate. The moving of the tobacco upwardly against gravity. very materially assists in the separation of the tobacco fibers, because the tendency of the fiber is to hang back, while the pins move therebetweenand carry it upwardly. This action is stimulated by the upper fibers that tend to fall back upon those below, while the shield or guard plate is so designed and positioned that none of the fibers can fall from the rolls. After leaving the upper conveyer roll 22, the tobacco fibers drop in a free, unrestrained, open stream onto the inclined chute 31, in such disintegrated condition, and uniform flow as to be ready for use n the finished cigarette. Adjacent to the inclined plate 31, and below the combs 53, is a rotary magnet 54 that removes any metal particles or chips from the tobacco that may have found their way therein, either by the chipping of the teeth or pins upon the roll, or from any other source. The tobacco is conveyed to the cigarette paper by a belt 34 upon the rolls Y35 and 36, the roll 35 receiving its power through a belt or sprocket chain 37, driven from the shaft 5. The upper surface of the belt 34 moves in a substantially horizontal plane over a platform 38 and below a plate 39, which plate is provided with a plurality of supplementary magnets 40 that remove any particles or chips that may have escaped the influence of the rotary magnets 54.

A plate 41 is fixed to the bottom plate 29 toinsure the delivery of the tobacco onto the belt, after it leaves the plate 31. The scavenger wheel 42, driven by a belt or chain 43, contacts with the underside of the belt 34 and sweeps off any tobacco that has not already fallen off by gravity. The tobacco from the belt 34, after it passes the roll 36, drops into a chute 44, and is discharged at its lower end onto the cigarette paper, preferably U shape, within a guide block 46. a

To deliver a variable volume of tobacco during the same time limit to accommodate cigarettes of various sizes, the roll 20 may be rotated at several speeds by substituting different sprocket wheels upon the shaft connected therewith.

Minor details of my invention may be materially varied and altered from the forms shown herein, and I would therefore have it understood that I do not limit myself to the exact construction herein shown and described, but claim all that falls fairly within the spirit and scope of my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is 5 1. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of a plurality of rolls having projecting members upon the periphery thereof, said rolls being arranged in different horizontal planes and lifting the tobacco against gravity from said receptacle; means for holding said tobacco within said projecting members while on said rolls and a stationary device in the path of said moving tobacco for disintegrating the same.

2. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of a plurality of rolls, having projecting members upon the periphery thereof, said rolls being arranged in different horizontal planes and lifting the tobacco against gravity from said receptacle; and means for holding said tobacco within said projecting members while being fitted by said rolls, said means having devices for disintegrating and cutting said tobacco.

3. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of means for moving the tobacco from the bottom thereof and causing it to travel against gravity in an upward path at differential speeds and thereafter releasing it in a higher horizontal plane to fall in an open and unconfined stream; and means for cutting the fibers of the tobacco while moving in said upward path, a portion of said out fibers continuing its upward movement and the other portion being again presented to said cutting means without being released from said path.

4. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of means for moving the tobacco from the bottom thereof and causing it to travel against gravity in an upward path at differential speeds and thereafter releasing it in a higher horizontal plane to fall in an open and unconfined stream; and stationary means for cutting the fibers of the tobacco while moving in said upward path, a portion of said out fibers continuing its upward movement and the other portion being again presented to said cutting means without being released from said path.

5. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of means for moving the tobacco from the bottom thereof and causing it to travel against gravity in an upward and confined path at differential speeds and thereafter releasing it in a higher horizontal plane to fall in an open and unconfined stream; and stationary means for cutting 'said tobacco while traveling in said upward 6. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of a plurality of rolls, having projecting members upon the periphery thereof, the peripheries of said rolls having differential speeds and revolving in different horizontal planes and lifting the tobacco against gravity from said receptacle in a confined stream; means for holding said tobacco within said projecting members while on said rolls; and a stationary device for cutting said tobacco while passing from one of said rolls to another, a portion of said tobacco after being cut continuing its travel on the second roll and the remaining portion being again presented to said cutting means without being released from said stream.

7. In a tobacco feed, the combination with a receptacle; of a plurality of rolls having projecting members upon the periphery thereof mounted within said receptacle and arranged in different horizontal planes and by their operation lifting the tobacco against gravity from said receptacle; and a fixed shield or guard plate for said rolls partly encircling each of said rolls, having a stripping lip at its bottom edge, and a cutting edge thereon between two or more of said rolls, whereby the tobacco is cut into pieces while traveling in substantial contact with said shield or guard plate.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANK E. LUDINGTON. Witnesses:

WILSON H. PIERCE, EDNA L. KETT. 

